The Child of Shining Darkness
by LadyChiaroscuro
Summary: LOTR AU. It's got it all: a prophecy, mythic beasties, romance, magic, mysterious parentage, good vs evil, character growth, new characters... etc etc etc. Please remember this is NOT real Middle Earth, it's my version of it :)
1. Tsanra

Name guide: (I KNOW these aren't real LOTR names, I made them up. Sorry.)

Tsanra is pronounced ZAN-ruh, rhymes with camera.

Kiilj is pronounced KILL-juh, rhymes with bilge.

Laenas is pronounced LAY-nas.

Tsanra yawned, stretched, and peeked out the window. It was dawn. She could see the elves outside in the courtyard meditating and doing whatever else elves do. Her mother had been of the Race of Man and her father something other than human. Tsanra had never known either of her parents; she had been sent to an orphanage run by woman elves at a very small age. She didn't know how old she was, but she thought she might be around fifteen.

Tsanra clambered out of her bed: she was at the top of a three level bunk bed, with two other orphans below her: Kiilj, a chubby, kind dwarf girl around the age of fourteen, and Laenas, a beautiful, hotheaded young woman who was sixteen. Tsanra padded down the girls' dormitory past the snoring, snoozing lumps of her peers. A bell would ring at the second hour past dawn, calling all the girls to wake, bathe, and come for breakfast and their daily lessons. Tsanra hated to bathe with the other girls; her dark, long hair attracted attention from the others, who choose to dye their hair light colors to look more Elvish. _I don't know why they would want to be something they're not,_ thought Tsanra. She really didn't understand people. They were so concerned with fitting in. Tsanra herself was a quiet, reclusive girl who most of the others considered to be very boring. Her only real friends were Kiilj and Laenas, but they were all she needed.

As Tsanra soaked in one of the swimming hole sized tubs that would hold up to ten girls later on in the morning, she thought about all her adventures with her two friends. Laenas, Kiilj and she had gone exploring under the mountain that the orphanage was built on when they were young, which was totally off limits. They had found many strange, twisting passages carved with ancient Runes. None of the girls could read the Runes, and they had laughed about an elf carving a raunchy story of their illicit lovers. But that had been all in play; everyone knew that the elves promised to love one person for their entire lives. Later, they had gone deeper into the caverns and perched on a tiny sliver of crumbling rock, looking down at a giant dragon skeleton lying on a heap of gold and silver thousands of feet below them. Molten rock bubbled dangerously around the precious metals, and the girls had spent a few hours teetering on the brink of the precipice, wondering if there was a way to get down. They had missed the evening meal, and had to sneak back into the dormitory. The month's worth of kitchen duty that they had earned had been well worth the trip.

Tsanra sighed, and wrung out her long hair that flowed down to her waist, folded it into a braid, then tied it up in a bun. Her thin, watery reflection looked dour this morning, and a bit washed out. Tsanra had never really been a strong girl, not like Kiilj who could lift a boulder easily twice her size, or like Laenas who could be downright pigheaded when the mood struck her. Her two friends always talked about going on great adventures with the heroes of the War: Frodo; Samwise; Aragorn; Legolas; Gimli; and Gandalf, the White Wizard. But not Tsanra. No, she was a soft spoken girl who liked to sit in the sun with a good book in some hidden corner of the library. The only thing that Tsanra was an abysmal failure at was the fighting arts classes that everyone was required to take from the time they were twelve until they were seventeen. Her teachers had also despaired of her ever being a decent horseback rider; she was terrified of the gigantic beasts! Any sane person would be, if you looked at the size of their teeth!

She dressed quickly, then hurried outside with her book, heading out towards her favorite oak tree with a book on Magic that she had snitched from the liabrary. Magic was the only thing she had a real knack for: this book was written for adult mages, and she understood it perfectly. Tsanra hoped to try out one of the spells, a summoning that would call up a Morgoth, a kind of funny little demon guide that could find and retrieve nearly anything, as long as the summoner could see what she wanted the demon to get. Tsanra thought it would be interesting to show her friends a cup of solid gold and remind them of the dragon lair.

Tsanra was so consumed by the thought of the looks on their faces, that she wasn't watching where she was going. She smacked straight into a man dismounting off a beautiful white horse. The man tripped and fell to the ground. Tsanra started, apologized, and reached down to help the tired old man up.

But when she looked into his face, she recognized him and nearly leaped straight out of her skin. This was no old man. This was Gandalf, the greatest wizard in the entire history of Middle Earth. And the look that gleamed in his eyes was not surprise, scorn, dislike, or even amusement: it was fear. Tsanra helped him up, and turned over her shoulder to see if there was anyone else that he could be looking at behind her. But there was no one. Slowly it dawned on her that a great assembly was watching her. Tsanra looked around. There, on his horse sat the King of Men, Aragorn; on a sturdy pony rode stalwart Gimli; and on a Palomino rode Legolas. All four watched her with a mixture of fear, respect, and deep surprise.

Then, Gandalf drew his breath to speak… to _her!_


	2. The Arrival

Gandalf drew his breath to speak… to _her! _"Well, that's quite a fall. I don't think I've been ran into that hard since my Hobbit-friends were young," laughed the old wizard.

"I'm so sorry, sir! I wasn't looking where I was going…"

"It's not a problem, my dear. Were you thinking about your book?" he asked, gesturing to the Magic book she had with her.

All eyes turned towards the cover of the book. Tsanra noticed that Aragorn's eyebrows raised ever so slightly, and that the others looked at each other as though the Magic book was something that should be noted. Tsanra decided that a little white lie might be in store.

"What, this old thing? No, I couldn't understand this! I'm still a beginner at Magic and I don't have enough power to make light or heat, let alone whatever this is. My teacher wanted me to bring it to her from the library."

"This early in the morning?" asked Gandalf skeptically.

"Well, she told me to do it last night, but I'd forgotten. I had hoped to put it outside her classroom door before she came and unlocked it."

"Ah," replied the wizard. "May I accompany you? I believe the Beginning Magic teacher here is Elerand, an old friend of mine. I wanted to see her anyway, but I'm afraid my memory isn't what it was…"

Legolas smothered a laugh, and Gimli hit him.

Gandalf looked helplessly at Tsanra, the perfect image of a guileless old man. If his two friends hadn't started laughing, she might have believed his lie. But she had no choice now but to agree to help him.

Tsanra reached down to help the wizard to his feet. When her hand touched his, she felt a sharp zinging feeling in her head. She squeaked; it hurt! Gandalf gave her an odd look, smiled at her, and said "Shall we go?"

Tsanra lead him silently through the quiet, empty corridors wondering how to explain herself to the Basic Magic teacher when she turned up at her door with the most famous wizard of recent times and a book that the teacher had not asked for. Fortunately, she didn't have to worry: Gandalf gripped her arm, stopping Tsanra. "I know that book isn't for your teacher, and I certainly don't need help finding my old friend's teaching hall. Can you perform the tasks set out in this book?"

Tsanra didn't know what to say, so she decided to tell the truth. "I don't know. I found it on a shelf in a corner of the library that no one ever seems to go in. At first I only read it to see if I understood it at all, and because it looked interesting, but I think I could do some of the things they say here… I don't know. I haven't tried."

The wizard gave her a long, hard look from under his bushy white brows. He fumbled a stone out of his pocket and squeezed it slightly; it glowed white. Gandalf nodded slowly, then returned it to the folds of his cloak. "All right, I believe you." Then, randomly, he asked her "What do you know about your parents? Have you enjoyed living here?"

_Another good time for honesty, especially when he has a truth-stone_, thought Tsanra. "I don't really know much about them, except that my mother was of the Race of Man, and I don't know who my father was. I have good friends I trust, and I don't ever remember being badly mistreated at all, if that's what you mean. The girls here see me as a sort of outcast, but I like that. They concern themselves with clothes and boys, and I really could care less about either. I'm happy."

Gandalf gave her another one of his hard looks, but didn't take out the stone. "All right, I'm glad," he replied after a moment or two.

"Did you want to say anything else to me?" Tsanra asked anxiously.

"Do you know who my companions are?"

"Of course. Who wouldn't?"

Gandalf smiled wryly. "You'd be surprised. Do you know why we're here?"

"No."

"Come serve dinner tonight in the Upper Tea Room, and listen carefully."

"But I don't have serving duty tonight. I have…"

"Never mind. I will arrange it," Gandalf said, collecting his cloak and striding down the hall away from Tsanra.

"Oh," he added, not stopping, "Don't try anything with that book and the dragon bones. The spirit of the dragon is still… lingering. It might not take kindly to your stealing its gold." Gandalf turned the corner and left, leaving Tsanra stunned. She hurried to tell Kiilj and Laenas what had happened. If they weren't awake, damn it, she'd wake them up herself, no matter what protests they made.

**SilwythKinoth: **I hope it's worth the wait, I think it should be. Keep up the feedback, and send me any good ideas you think might work.


	3. The Problem

Tsanra ran into the dorm room. A few girls were up, but most were still snuggled up in their warm beds. Tsanra didn't care. "LAENAS! KIILJ! Wake UP!" she shrieked as loud as she could, running down towards their bunk.

Immediately, a chorus of groans rose from the other bunks. Tsanra got many dirty looks as people rolled over, trying to snag another few minutes of sleep, and some even threw pillows and stuffed toys at her. One girl groaned: "They're over there…" and then uttered a long snore. She was already asleep again.

Tsanra turned around and saw her two friends coming out of the tub room laughing hysterically at her. Laenas had a towel wrapped around her head; a strand of hair was dangling down, soaking wet. Kiilj didn't bother with the towel: she preferred a wet back in the summer months.

Tsanra blushed and walked over towards them as quietly as possible. But right when she was about ten feet away, she bashed her foot into a trunk that was sticking out from under a bunk. "OUCH!" she screamed.

The chorus of girls screeched their fury, and a mass of flying pillows, toys, blankets, and even a few hardback books came hurtling towards them.

"Eek!" squeaked Kiilj.

"Meep!" shouted Tsanra.

"Oh, goddess, not this again," groaned Laenas, and dragged them into the bath room, closing the door. As soon as it clicked shut, a torrent of loud thuds hit it.

Kiilj and Tsanra looked stunned. Laenas just rearranged her towel and said, "So, you have big news again? What this time that it was worth waking up the whole dorm? Not that that's always unusual with you…"

Tsanra giggled nervously. She did this sort of thing at least once a month. She wasn't called the Loud One by her peers for nothing. It was ironic, though, because Tsanra was an introvert, and she really didn't talk to the other people at all besides Kiilj and Laenas.

Laenas judged it to be safe to go out again, and dragged her friends out of the dormitory, and they began walking down to the laundry room, where Laenas could deposit her wet towel and go to breakfast with them.

"Guess what?" asked Tsanra.

"What?" countered Kiilj.

Laenas, sarcastic as always, hazarded a guess. "The famous Legolas, the King of Men, Gimli the Great, Frodo of the Shire, his friend Samwise, and the magnificent White Wizard have all asked you to tea today," she replied, rolling her eyes. "What," she asked, seeing Tsanra's face.

Tsanra was ogling at her. Sometimes she wondered if her friend had mind reading talents.

"No, just the White Wizard, and I'm serving, not actually sitting down with them."

Laenas chuckled. Kiilj said, "You're getting to be as bad as her. I can only stand _one_ sarcastic person in our trio. Come on, what really happened?"

So Tsanra told them exactly how she had met the famed White Wizard. Laenas listened intently, and made Tsanra describe their weapons exactly, and Kiilj wanted to hear about what Gimli was like, so it took longer than Tsanra had hoped it would.

When she was done with her story, they had finished their breakfast, and now had the entire day to themselves. It was high summer, and because it got so hot outside, most of the elves and the orphans chose to stay indoors, but not Tsanra, Kiilj, or Laenas. The girls packed a bag of food for lunch, and set out on a hike to the nearby woods. When they arrived, they took a sharp right into a tangle of overgrown thorns. After wrestling with the thorns for a minute or two, the girls pushed them aside to reveal a secret grotto. A stream rushed through the sanctuary gurgling on the soft white sand, and trees provided the perfect mix of warm sunshine and refreshing shade. This is where the three of them spent their summer months laughing and playing together while the other girls were stuck up inside all day.

Kiilj, Tsanra, and Laenas happily spent the day here at their leisure, but as dusk began to show signs of falling, Tsanra began to worry about the dinner she had to serve that night. She insisted on going back earlier than they usually did. Tsanra bathed, let her hair dry, dressed in her best clothes (which consisted of a never-worn pair of dress pants and a top without any stains) and madly brushed her tangled hair until it was smooth. Then she ran to the kitchen, grabbed a bite to eat, and checked the list of jobs one more time, in hopes that Gandalf hadn't been able to switch her.

But sure enough, her name was listed as the server in the Upper Tea Room tonight. She asked one of the orphan boys who was slaving over a hot oven why she had been switched: Jordiek, an older orphan boy, usually served at the important dinners.

"Oi, weel, ole' Jordiek got sick-like. Ee's got 'orrible stomack pains, and culdn't geet out of 'is bed for the hurt of it awll. Started just after bekfest. I fink he ate somphin that didin agree wif 'im."

"Ah," Tsanra replied to his garbled speech. Gandalf must have put something in his food; it was like a wizard to do something like that.

So, taking a plate of fish and bread, she scarfed her dinner down and hurried up to the Upper Tea Room to serve.

She got there just in time, too. As soon as she had walked in and set the table, the group arrived. All of them were there: Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam, as well as the head of the orphan home, Lord Wensil and his partner Lord Myron.

They sat down, and Tsanra served the first course. She felt a slight tingling as she served Gandalf, but didn't think much of it until she went to stand in the corner and looked in a mirror which hung on the wall. Then she nearly jumped out of her skin: _she looked like a boy! A BOY! _Not even like herself, either. Instead of having dark hair, dark eyes, and easily burnt, pale skin, she seemed to be blond, blue-eyed, and very tan. It was strange.

But Gandalf was speaking now. "As you all know," he said, "we have come here to discuss a matter of grave importance."

Aragorn interrupted Gandalf, saying "Shouldn't we do something about him…?" gesturing towards Tsanra. _HIM, _she thought indignantly, and was tempted to try and give the King a piece of her mind, but then remembered the disguise spell on her, and relaxed.

"I have put a spell on him so that what he will hear is boring conversation of old friends catching up. And many, many bad puns. Oh, yes! Bad puns aplenty," Gandalf replied.

"Ah," Aragorn sighed, "So we can speak comfortably. Good."

"What did you bring us here for, again?" asked Legolas.

"My dear elf," grunted Gimli, "You really must learn to PAY ATTENTION, or you will miss quite a bit of important information."

"Yes," quipped Merry, "Remember the Balrog? After we had all seen the thing and were running as fast as we could you had to try to shoot at it. Even once you dropped the arrow you _still _had to shriek like a little girl 'Ai! Ai! A Balrog has come!' and _then _run with us. Honestly, where was _your_ brain?"

Legolas muttered something, turning bright red.

"So, remind my poor old feather brained chum as to why we are here," Gimli said to Gandalf.

"We are here because of the… problems… which originated in the Dead Marshes. As you know, after the Ring was destroyed, many of the powerful forces which exist here were also destroyed or changed in some way. Frodo, do you remember what happened there?"

Frodo shivered and nodded.

"Good, I would be worried if you didn't. The dead warriors have gone from there, and have appeared somehow in the waters of the Bay of Belfallas, by Gondor. They have been attacking any ships that try to leave Gondor by way of the bay. This is a problem for all those people who still, with good reason, do not wish to travel on the Harad Road, as it is so close to Mordor and the Dead Marshes, or cannot travel on the more mountainous roads that leave Gondor. While neither the Marshes nor Mordor are serious dangers now that the Ring is gone, Mordor is still in civil war and travelers have been known to disappear and skeletons to be discovered. My dear hosts, Lord Wensil and Lord Myron, I am sure you wonder what this has to do with you, here by the South Downs on the River Hoarwell…"

"Yes, in fact, we do. What on earth can a small orphanage here do to help those in Gondor?"

"My friend, you have a child in your midst who might just be the solution to the problem which I just presented to you. However, that problem is only one puzzle piece of the big picture. Something is stirring in Mordor again. I am too old to go chasing after things, Aragorn has a kingdom and a people to rule, as well as a wife expecting a child to care for; Legolas, I believe, will pledge himself soon; and I certainly could not sent the hobbits and Gimli off by themselves. They too, though they refuse to admit it, I am sure, are getting on in years and might not make it back from the arduous journey that I have in mind. There is a darkness that falls over the land once more, and I need someone who is both light and dark to fight it. Do you take my meaning?"

The two lords glanced at each other, and slowly nodded. They understood precisely.

Unfortunately, no one else did, least of all Tsanra.


	4. The Discovery

**My Note: **

YES, the idea of overhearing something in a dark, shadowy corner is SOO overdone, but my muse was off on a date with the poltergeist that haunts my house, so I was left with my wee little mortal mind. Sorry.

Tsanra brought up piping hot dish after another throughout the course of the meal. She was at a total loss as to what Gandalf had meant when he had spoken to the two Lords. She pondered over the conversation over the entire meal, and nearly spilt the hot raspberry cream coffee on Lord Wensil at the dessert course. As it was, she was covered from head to toe with bits of the dinner. There was gravy all over her smock and peas mashed under her fingernails. Her hair had come out of its normally very neat little bun and was frizzing out around her face, making it look like a little ugly black halo. All in all, she was not in the best of moods when she was finished serving dinner. Besides, Gandalf had said that if she listened, she would find out something interesting. The only thing interesting that she had found out was that the dead people in the Dead Marshes had moved somewhere else. What did that have anything to do with her, all the way here near the Shire?

Tsanra hurried down the stone steps coming from the elegant Tea Room, went into the kitchen, and stripped off her dirty work apron. The fire was burning in the center of the room, but no one else was around. _Strange, _she thought, _there's usually someone here to tend the fire. It must be later than I thought._ Going into a dark corner, Tsanra hung up her apron on the rack clearly marked CLEAN, instead of taking in to the laundry room. Let someone else take care of that. Tsanra was in such a foul mood that she just wanted to get to bed.

Three figures entered the room just as she was preparing to leave, and she shrank into the shadows of the kitchen again. She did not recognize two of them, as they were hidden by cloaks, but she did recognize Gandalf. He was speaking quietly, furiously, to both of them.

"…know she has to…"

"It's too soon!" murmured one figure, with a deep, husky voice of a man who is very upset.

"You said that we…" moaned the other, a woman.

"You relinquished whatever right you had to her when you…!"

"Don't tell me about rights. Not _you_." The man's voice was full of unmasked loathing when he spoke to Gandalf. The woman wrung her hands and tried to calm the man.

"You know the prophecy. It said that the _child _would be the one who would decide things once and for all, not myself, not either of you, not any member of the Fellowship, but the child of the line of Sauron!"

There were more murmurings, and Tsanra strained to hear what was going on. Several moments later, the man finally spoke up again so she could hear him.

"…Only a _child_, and so young!"

"No! If she were an adult, she would certainly fail. Adults see all the darkness around them, and quail at the sight, then run, hide, and _fail_. Children carry within them great hope and innocence. They can see that there will be light in the future. She is old enough to bear the burden, but young enough to still see the light. I will send her on the first leg of the journey tomorrow. Now, go." Gandalf's voice left no room for argument, and the two left. Before the woman stepped out of the room, she whispered back to Gandalf, "Don't let her come to any harm."

"You know that I cannot make any promises," he sighed, suddenly a tired old man, "But I will try my very hardest."

Satisfied, the woman nodded and said, "That is all I can ask." She was swallowed up by the shadows, and Tsanra heard the door close behind her.

Gandalf sat down by the bench, warming his hands over the fire. His face was illuminated by the flame, casting dancing, warm light over his wrinkled old face and white, long hair. He sighed deeply, and wrapped the folds of his cloak tighter around him against the cold of the night. "Well, my dear," he grumbled, peering into the shadows where Tsanra hid, "was that interesting enough for you?"

**THECheeseTurkey:** Thanks for all the encouragement, but what can I do to make it better? What are your ideas for your AU? If you like you could bounce ideas off me, I wouldn't mind, might give me some original thoughts.

**Silwyth: **Thanks for all the reviews. I need to know people are reading all this stuff I turn out… :-)

**Acharnae: **I need all the tough criticism I can get… Nobody's telling me how to make it _better_. How can I make Tsanra not a Mary Sue without her being a totally depressed cutter? I'm not in the mood for that kind of story… Maybe later. I'm adding totally new characters pretty soon, don't be shocked. The accent in chapter 3 is something of a cross between a lisp and a figment of my imagination. The other quote is my own exasperation with some people at my school which was rather spontaneous and probably should not have gone in the story.


	5. The Prophecy

**My Note: **

I usually try to update every two days or so, if you haven't noticed. This week (3-13-05 to 3-19-05) I'll be crazy-busy and almost guaranteed unable to update. Thanks for the patience  . I'll update ASAP.

"Well, my dear," Gandalf grumbled, peering into the kitchen shadows where Tsanra hid, "was that interesting enough for you?"

Tsanra decided that there was no use pretending not to be there. She stepped out into the fire light and sat down across from the White Wizard. "What did you mean, the Prophecy? Am I that child you talked about? Am I… the daughter of Sauron?" Tsanra's voice broke, and she was on the edge of tears. How could she be the daughter of such a hated villain?

"Oh, dear," Gandalf sighed, "No! You are not that wretched, twisted creature's daughter. The prophecy says that there are two girls: one who will find the other. Would you like to hear it in its entirety?"

"Yes."

Gandalf took a deep breath and began:

"When all is done and said

And the story is at its end,

When the old are weary

And begin to look to the West,

The darkness will shroud the corners of the light once more,

Prickle upon the corners of reality.

The heroes of old will not prevail,

Try as they might, for

This is a new shadow, another kind of evil.

It will rise from the wreckage of Mount Doom and the corpse of Sauron.

It will be the power of the two dark halves,

Combined, twisted, joined in Death.

No hero from Old, nor anyone of their lines may defeat the Shadow,

Only one of Sauron's own blood can unravel the lines of Fate.

But she will not show her sweet face until another finds her.

A girl with nothing to loose, nothing to give

Must give of herself more than any other,

More than life

More than death

To find this child of darkness

And return her to her proper place of light.

Both children are without guidance, abandoned at birth to the wild East winds.

Fire and Shadow

Steed and Sword

Ash and Air

Light and Dark

Bound like a ghost in a fog,

Black on black

Shake the world and unite the two halves

Shake the universe and find them."

Gandalf stared into the fire, and, after a while, said "You should be going to bed now. You have to be up and gone in the morning. I'm afraid that the dead moving from the Dead Marshes is only the first step that this Sauron-Ring creature will take against us. Make good time. I will tell you more tomorrow," he stood, his old joints creaking. "Look at me," Gandalf sighed. "I am an old man, and I must leave all the adventures and dangers to others." He sighed, and hobbled out of the room. Tsanra ran to the dormitory, and climbed into bed. Her two friends protested as she stepped on their faces and arms to get up to her top bunk instead of using the ladder, but she was too tired to care. As soon as Tsanra's face hit the pillow, she was immersed into deep sleep.


	6. Troubles With Shadows and Horses

**My Note:**

Tell me if the ending to this chapter is too cliché, please. Also, the horse is supposed to be humorous and intelligent, not magical, in case you wondered… :-)

Tsanra yawned and stretched. She opened her eyes sleepily and jumped. In front of her nose was Laenas, beaming at her in the early morning sunlight, with Kiilj sitting on her piggy-back style and peering over her shoulder. Tsanra jumped and gave a muffled screech. "Don't do that!" she grumbled.

"Your presence is required at breakfast, Lady Tsanra," giggled Kiilj.

"Lady?" asked Laenas, incredulous, "If she's a lady then _I'm_ a queen! And small children do _not _sit on queen's backs!"

"Yes, your majesty," Kiilj retorted, and jumped down onto the floor.

Tsanra went with her two friends, each now contesting to be the lost heir of some great dynasty, laughing all the way to breakfast. Each got her morning breakfast, and then sat down at unoccupied places at the long benches and tables where the orphans ate. They laughed at talked together, planning out another anticipated day at the woods, waiting until they could leave for the day. Tsanra's two best friends went off to get seconds, but Tsanra stayed at the table to finish her first serving.

She glanced up from her toast, and saw a flicker of movement in the side doorway that lead to the kitchen. She turned around, her eyes widening at what she saw.

A black, billowing, shadowy cloud stood in the doorway. It had glowing eyes like red hot embers fresh from the fire, and floated untouched by the breezes coming in and out of the kitchen, unlike any natural smoke cloud. It opened its mouth and leered at her, revealing several rows of fiery teeth. A kitchen boy walked straight through it, apparently quite unaware that it was there. Tsanra looked around, but no one else seemed to see it.

A shout rang out from the high table. Gandalf stood up and raised his staff. A bright, blistering beam of white light shot out from it and hit the creature directly in its midsection. An unearthly, banshee-like wail pierced the hall breakfast sounds of clinking silverware. It reached its crescendo and broke all the glass in the room. Then, the demonic shadow disappeared.

People in the hall had ducked under tables and chairs. Tsanra stood up, shaken, and looked around to be sure her friends were all right. Kiilj and Laenas had taken refuge under a giant pot used for soups in the afternoon and evening. There was a soft ping as a fork hit the floor. Then all hell broke loose.

Children began bawling, nurses screeching, teenagers running amok, and no one could seem to calm down. Gandalf jumped up on the table, ran over to Tsanra and shouted, "Come! Now!" He dragged her by the wrist out of the room to the stables, where he threw tack and saddle bags on the biggest, meanest horse in the barn, D'Korr, whose name meant Dark Thunder. The black horse snorted in protest and tried to buck the gear off, but Gandalf just scooped up Tsanra and threw her onto the horse's back, ignoring both her protests and D'Korr's. Gandalf whispered in the big horse's ear, gave him a good slap on the behind, and the horse took off at a gallop.

Tsanra nearly fell off. She was petrified. It was all she could do to hold on. Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to fall into the rhythm of the huge beast's stride, and became a bit more comfortable. They rode until the sun was high in the sky, tearing up dust down the Great East Road, straight through Bree, and finally coming to a stop outside the town. D'Korr bucked Tsanra off his back and went over to a stream, took a long drink, and began to nibble at clumps of clover, for all the world a happy, untired horse. Tsanra went up to the horse and carefully removed his saddle and blanket, then took a look in the saddle bags.

There was food enough for a very long journey, as well as five bulging water flasks. A book of magic was tucked in, as well as three changes of clothes, all practical and well made for a physically demanding trip. There were a few other random utensils, like quill pens, ink, parchment, and pans. A sleeping pouch was neatly folded in the other saddle bag. As Tsanra was taking it out, she found a lantern, a map, and a compass in the bottom of the bag. She settled down, munching on traveling bread, and wondering what she could do.

Tomorrow she would head back. There was no way she was going anywhere. What did Gandalf expect her to do, find this strange dark child that was supposed to save the world? That seemed more like the fantasies of a crazy old coot than the wise words of the great White Wizard. Maybe the wizard had really lost it. Tsanra sighed, and curled up to sleep.

She woke up early that morning, very stiff from her long ride. She ate breakfast leisurely, but was surprised when D'Korr tried to nip her after a few minutes. She fed him some bread, but he continued to pester her until she finished breakfast, packed, and began to saddle him. He always left her alone when she worked, but as soon as she stopped, he would bear his teeth at her and lift a back hoof in a menacing way as though to say "Get on with it! We have places to go!"

Finally, at the fourth hour after dawn, she was ready to go. Tsanra gingerly mounted D'Korr, and turned him back towards Bree. She didn't get very far. As soon as they had left the field that they had spent the night on, the horse realized where she was telling him to go, and stopped dead in his tracks. She tried everything she knew to get him to go, and finally started hitting him with a makeshift crop to get him to go. He turned his huge neck and glared at her threateningly, and when she didn't stop, he shifted his weight just ever so slightly, dumping her off in a single, fluid movement. He then snorted in her face, spraying horse slobber all over her, and nipped at her until she got back on him.

Tsanra nearly screamed with impatience. "You stupid horse! I need to get home! I don't know what to do, and that damn wizard needs to get someone else to do his dirty work!"

The horse turned his head around to her again and rolled his eyes, then snorted. D'Korr kicked up his heels, and despite his rider's forceful protests, gathered up speed into a gallop and took off down the Old South Road towards the River Greyflood, Gondor, the Bay of Belfallas, the dead from the marshes, and a whole heap of trouble. Tsanra, or rather her horse, had just taken the first step into destiny.

**Silwyth:** Well, it's supposed to be sad (I think…), but sad like nostalgic not weepy, if you get my meaning. And don't be so sure that she's not ;-) . Remember, she said daughter, he said bloodline.


	7. Solution for Horses

**My Note: **Yes, I know horses can't gallop all day long. I've worked at a stable for over a year, but remember please this is fan FICTION.

Tsanra managed to stay on D'Korr until about noon, when he politely slowed to a trot so she could eat her lunch in relative peace (but certainly not tranquility). He nipped at her boot until she fed him some, trotting all the while. When he turned to nip her again at around dusk, he also ducked his head so that she slipped right off the front of him onto her butt. D'Korr gave her a look, snorted, and walked off. Tsanra ran after him, but he shied away from her. She sighed and plopped down on the ground. The horse immediately ran over to her, nipped her, and darted back. She got up, and would have whacked him on the head if he hadn't shied away again. Then the damnable horse started _trotting away! _Tsanra let out a scream of frustration, and began to chase him.

After chasing the wicked horse over two hills, a small wood, and a farmer's corn, she finally caught up to him, dragging his bridle until he came to a stop. Tsanra began venting her frustration on his tack, shouting and cursing at the horse the entire time. He began to look very sad, and when she was done, he reached his mouth up to her hand. Tsanra flinched away, thinking he was going to bite her, but instead he lipped at her gently, tickling her. She gave him the most severe look she could manage, but soon started to giggle at the beast's antics. She laughed up until the horse butted her in the stomach and pushed her onto her knees. Tsanra yelped, and began to slide down a small, muddy slope. She turned around to see where to put her feet, and saw that underneath her was a _stream_.

D'Korr watched her antics, listened to her pleas for him to help her, snorted, and went a few yards upstream to get a drink, leaving his mistress clinging to a root protruding from the mud. Tsanra was suspended a few inches over the water, and was about to give up and fall when she heard a whinny from downstream. Both she and D'Korr turned their heads, surprised.

There stood a young man carrying a bucket and a fishing rod. He whinnied again, and Tsanra thought to herself _Is he one of those crazy beggars who thinks he's a were-animal? Maybe he thinks he's a horse. _But she was even more surprised when D'Korr whinnied back. It looked almost like they were having a conversation with each other. The boy and the horse seemed to be arguing with each other, judging by his facial expressions. Finally the horse snorted, tossed his head, and came over. D'Korr leaned over the mud, took Tsanra by the back of her shirt, and pulled her up, getting her as dirty as possible in the process. The boy rolled his green eyes and bared his teeth at the horse, but didn't say anything.

Now that she was up close to him, Tsanra could see that he was about her age. Tall and lanky, the boy looked like he was used to hard outdoor work. "Hello," he said, breaking the silence that stretched out between them, "What was D'Korr trying to do by getting you all muddy, I wonder? I'm sure you look positively gorgeous when you're not caked in stream muck."

The horse snorted; _he _had other ideas about Tsanra's looks.

Tsanra blushed. At home, she hadn't had more than polite conversation with the boys her age, and none of them had ever even looked twice at her. Now here was a perfect stranger _flirting _withher!

D'Korr chomped his lips and sighed.

The boy replied with a snort, then blew into the horse's face.

"My name's Tal the Horseman. Who're you?"

"Erm… My name's Tsanra," whispered Tsanra.

"Sorry, couldn't catch that. I know you can speak up; I heard you cursing like a sailor at D'Korr. He really didn't deserve that comment about his parents, you know. It's not _his _fault his father's been gelded, now is it?"

Tsanra laughed. "I'm Tsanra."

Tal smiled. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"No." Catching something, Tsanra asked, "How do you know my horse's name."

"He told me."

"He told you?"

"Yeah. I _am_ a Horseman."

"Uh-huh. So what does that mean? Are you a roadside lunatic, a carnival freak, a con, or what?"

"Probably a mix of carnival freak and roadside lunatic," Tal joked.

"_What?_"

"I travel around from town to town looking for work. I have this… gift… of talking to animals, but I mostly deal with horses. I mean, really, conversations with cows and sheep are usually pretty one sided. They're not the sharpest knives in the drawer, if you get my meaning."

"Oh."

"It's getting late, want some fish?" offered Tal friendlily.

Tsanra started to decline, but D'Korr came around behind her and nipped her butt. She squeaked and glared at him. He snorted, and lay down in the grass next to Tal. Despite all her valiant efforts, she couldn't even get the gigantic beast to shift his weight.

Tal laughed. "Well I guess that settles it. If you get firewood while I gut them, we can have a good meal soon. Do you prefer bass or trout?"

Tsanra sighed. It looked like she wouldn't be dining alone tonight. She shot a murderous look at D'Korr, who nibbled at the grass innocently. Then she replied, "Trout, please," to Tal and went off to get the wood.


End file.
